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Death of a Salesman is about a salesman who is having a hard time in life: his mind is fading, he is losing his job, and he has a struggling relationship with his children. In his old age, Willy Loman is beginning to have flashbacks of when his children were younger and life was easier. Willy is a salesman who works on a commission this further concludes that he does not make money unless he makes sales. As Willy ages, he is losing his talent for making sales which leads to problems making payments in his home. Willy does not have a great relationship with his sons, Biff and Happy. When they were younger they did everything they could to please him but, as they got older they started seeing that he had many faults and began to stray from what he taught them.
Death of a Salesman is told in chronological order. It starts at the Loman house when Willy is coming home from a long day of work. As the story goes on it tells about the last few days of Willy’s life. In the final days of his life, he loses his job and tries to keep it from his wife. After losing his job, Willy tries to encourage his sons to acquire stable jobs so they can support the family. Towards the end of the story, the reader learns that Mr. Loman has recently tried to kill himself before but, for some unknown reason, he did not succeed. Biff learns about this and is angry, he is angry that his brother is not worried about Willy and he is angry that his father would try to kill himself. In the final scene, Biff and Happy come home after spending the night with women, when they walk in Linda, their mother, is furious at them for leaving him before dinner. Linda gets into an argument with Biff and will not let him see his father because Willy is so hurt by what his sons did. Willy finally walks in from gardening and gets in a heated argument with Biff where he realizes that Biff still loves him and wants him to be happy. In the end, Willy seems to have a flashback and ends up killing himself in a car crash. Even though most of the intentions were clear, the story left some interpretation to the reader, like distinguishing what was real-time and what was a flashback.
The main character in Death of a Salesman is Willy Loman, he is a husband and a father to two sons. The reader learns about Willy through his conversations and actions. The first time that we are introduced to Willy he says “No, nothing happened… I said nothing happened. Didn’t you hear me?” (2), this shows that he has a short temper which is supported later in the play as he gets in many arguments with his sons. He is additionally an old man who has a lot of flashbacks to important events that happened when his children were younger. Willy is a salesman who was terrific at his job when he was younger but, as he got older he started losing sales more often. He wants to provide for his family by giving them a nice house and making sure that they have nicer things which is much harder at this point since he is struggling at work. He borrows money from whoever he can when he needs to make payments and tries to keep it from his wife. Towards the end of the play, Willy loses his job which is very hard on him because he still thinks of himself as the great salesman he once was. Willy wants his wife and sons to believe that he has his life together so he doesn’t want them to know when he borrows money or when he loses his job. He understands that he is not the man he would like to be for his family which leads to his depression. Willy’s depression begins to get the best of him when he tries to hang himself in the cellar, he doesn’t succeed but begins making remarks about being “worth more dead than alive” (76). In the end, Willy kills himself, he is about to go up to bed when he begins hearing music which turns into a scream then gets in his car and wrecks.
Death of a Salesman takes place in the 1940s when the Loman family is still struggling from the stock market crash that led to the Great Depression. Most of the story happens at the Loman house but Willy travels around for work. Death of a Salesman gives the reader a gloomy, mournful feeling by using words with a negative connotation. At the beginning of act one when the scene is being described the author sets the tone by describing the “angry glow of orange” (1), and the “small, fragile-seeming home” (1). When there are flashbacks in the story the family is typically peaceful and the family is being friendly with each other. The Depression further accentuates the fact that Willy is having trouble with money, his family, and work.
One major theme in Death of a Salesman is that life is tough and people go through harsh times. “Willy: I was fired, and I’m looking for a little good news to tell your mother because the woman has waited and the woman has suffered. The gist of it is that I haven’t got a story left in my head, Biff. So don’t give me a lecture about facts and aspects. I am not interested. Now what’ve you got to say to me?” (83). This is where the author is explaining to the reader what Willy has been going through. He lost his job, he hasn’t told his wife, and he is looking for any good news he can find to tell Linda. In Willy’s dialogue, the reader can presume that he feels bad for his wife because he is not providing for her as he should be. “Once in my life I would like to own something outright before it’s broken! I’m always in a race with the junkyard! I just finished paying for the car and it’s on its last legs. The refrigerator consumes belts like a goddam maniac. They time those things. They time them so when you finally paid for them, they’re used up.” (54). This is another example of Willy’s dialogue explicates that they don’t have the money to pay for nice things. He suggests that he has never been able to pay something off and own it before it is broken. TITLE:
The title, Death of a Salesman, is suitable because the book tells about what led to Willy Loman killing himself. The book tells about how Mr. Loman’s life is very depressing as well as how there has been a decline in his health and wellbeing. The actual death of the salesman takes place at the end of the story after Willy realizes that his son Biff still loves him. The reader might be confused because it is assumed Willy is at peace when he realizes Biff. It seemed that Willy was having a flashback episode when he died so it is assumed that he was not in his right mind.
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